


Last breath

by blossomofsnow65



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Angst, Cancer, Death, F/M, Post-Episode: s11e10 My Struggle IV
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-22
Updated: 2019-06-22
Packaged: 2020-05-16 05:26:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19311547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blossomofsnow65/pseuds/blossomofsnow65
Summary: Scully and Mulder have been through it all, but now a battle they thought had been defeated comes back to stay.





	Last breath

When Dana Scully was assigned to work with Special Agent Fox Mulder, she never thought that that would mark the beginning of a remarkable life by his side. They had been through it all: abductions, birth, death, coming back from the dead, brain tumours, running away together, cancer…

 _Cancer_.

_2025_

As soon as her headaches worsened and the nosebleeds made their unwelcomed entrance, she knew what was happening. Every time she felt a little trickle of blood starting to run down her nose she would jolt from her seat and run to the bathroom with her hand cupping her nose. Whenever Mulder asked her why she constantly ran to the bathroom every now and then, she’d just shrug it off and say that with age she lost bladder control.

Jackson, however, was starting to realise what was going on. He had a special connection with his mother, and she knew that no matter how much she would try to hide her worries and fears, Jackson would always know them before anyone else. Sometimes she wondered if he would know them before she did.

On a cold February morning, Scully woke up with a headache so intense that she thought she’d split in two. Both her hands were on both sides of her head that moved from side to side, and she dared not to sit up so as to not wake Mulder up. Once the dizziness started to fade, she gathered all the strength she had to get up and walk to the bathroom.

As she was walking towards the sink to wash her hands and begin her daily skin care routine, she heard Mulder gasp. “Scully!” Her head spun towards Mulder’s direction so quickly that it made her dizzy again. She caught a glance of herself in the mirror before leaving the bathroom and that’s when she saw it: a fresh trickle of blood running down on top of dried blood from a nosebleed that surely happened during the night while she slept cuddled in Mulder’s arms.

Mulder was lying on his side with his left arm resting on his pillow, his right hand not daring to touch the blood that had stained Scully’s pillowcase. The look of worry on his face made Scully want to cry, but she forced herself to hold it in. Mulder was going to lose it, she had to be the strong one.

“Scully, are you okay?”

“Y-yes, Mulder. I’m fine.” Scully replied, lying through her teeth.

Mulder nodded, completely unconvinced, and glanced at the red spots once again. Suddenly, his worry was replaced by fear when his eyes landed on Scully again. “S-Scully, your nose, it’s bleeding. You’ve been having nosebleeds, haven’t you?”

Scully realised that she hadn’t cleaned herself before leaving the bathroom and hurried back inside. Once she had cleaned her nose – and let a tear or two fall -, she headed back to the bedroom. She decided that it was time for Mulder to know her fears, to share them with him. They had been through it once, they will go through it again if that’s the case.

Both of them cried when Scully told him she might have cancer. He connected all the dots and everything made sense: her rush to go to the bathroom with her hand covering her nose, her dizziness, her headaches. He said she should go to the doctor and, to Mulder’s surprise, Scully agreed. She knew she couldn’t pull the ‘I’m a doctor’ card because in this case it wouldn’t suffice as an argument.

Xxxxx

After undergoing what felt like an insane amount of tests, the doctor confirmed it: Scully’s cancer had returned and it was there to stay. There was no going back. Mulder wanted to know where it was located, but the doctor couldn’t know for sure. He said that her CT scan lit up like a Christmas tree, showing all of the places where the disease had metastasised.

Scully didn’t care anyway. The only thing she cared about was that in a few months, she would no longer be with her husband and children.

They  told Jackson first. Never in a million year would he have thought that what was worrying his mother, what he was perceiving, was the possibility of a terminal disease. And having the confirmation made him feel distraught and heartbroken. But he felt angry, too. He had already lost both of his adoptive parents, and just when he was starting to adjust to his brand new life, his biological parents tell him that Scully has only a few months to live. However, he also had to be strong; strong for Lily, who would be in his care when she’d come back home from school and neither of her parents were there to hear about her day.

Lily, on the other hand, didn’t understand what was going on. She had heard about cancer because Scully had told her before that she had had it years ago, but she never knew it could come back, nor did she know that one could die from it. Telling her that her mommy had only months to live made their hearts shatter. Lily hugged Scully and cried on her shoulder. Lily said a silent prayer while touching the cross that hung from her mother’s neck that would later hang around hers.

Xxxxx

They started chemo a week later, but she knew it was in vain. Mulder did too, deep, deep down, but he refused to give up hope. He had two children waiting at home and a wife who needed his care, his support and his love at the hospital, so he saved his tears for the pillow.

Whenever Scully’s doctor came to her room, he never brought good news. It was always a ‘your bloodwork came back and I’m concerned,’, ‘you’re losing too much weight’, ‘the chemo is not working, I think it’s time we should stop treatment.’ Mulder couldn’t take any more bad news and, that night when Scully was sleeping, he rested his head on her bed and cried on to it, letting out what he had held inside ever since that morning he saw blood on the pillow, just like he did with Scully’s previous cancer. He held his wife’s hand and fell asleep as the sun started to come up.

Xxxxx

“Remember when we watched ‘Father of the Bride’?” Scully asked Mulder as she ate a cup of Jell-o and watched the cartoons Lily had left on the TV. It was a Saturday and Jackson and his sister had spent the day at the hospital with their mom, which is what they did ever since Scully started with chemo.

Mulder, who was sitting next to her on the bed, smiled at the memory. Scully was pregnant at the time, on the last days of her pregnancy, and he had turned on the TV to keep her mind off of the uncomfortable aspects of pregnancy that she was experiencing. They watched ‘Father of the Bride’, enjoying the last days of peace and quiet before a new chapter of their lives started. Mulder remembered that he couldn’t stop rubbing circles on Scully’s belly – the baby would reciprocate with kicks -, and he’d talk to their daughter about the long and happy life she would have with them.

“Of course I remember, Scully. It was the day before our little Lily was born.” Mulder massaged her sore shoulders which hadn’t felt the touch of Scully’s hair for a while. Unlike last time, Scully started to lose her hair this time around. When she noticed the strands of hair resting on the pillow, she covered her face with her hands and started bawling. Mulder held her close and whispered words of comfort. After that, she started to wear a beanie that Tara had knitted for her.

“Hmm. That was a good day.” Scully sniffled and set the cup down on the table, adjusting her beanie. She turned around and looked at Mulder deep into his eyes. “Mulder, please promise me that you’ll take care of them.”

“Scully…” Mulder started as his hands left her shoulders.

“No, Mulder. Listen to me. I don’t know how long I have, it might be today, tomorrow or in five months. You are a wonderful father, I know that, but you have to promise me. Promise me that you’re going to make Jackson finish University, and that Lily will get to go to ballet and piano lessons. And that you won’t get her into paranormal activities.” Scully chuckled and Mulder reciprocated.

“I promise, Scully. You have my word.”

Xxxxx

Suddenly, Scully’s health started to deteriorate. Jackson didn’t want to go to the hospital anymore; he had started to hate the smell of hospitals he once loved, and he didn’t like Lily visiting their mother either. Alas, they still visited her on Saturdays as usual; they started visiting daily when she got worse. Jackson and Lily weren’t the only visitors: Skinner also visited and would stay with her whenever Mulder needed to go back home for a while (even though he didn’t want to, but Scully made him.)

She was pale, her lips were dry and cracked and her voice would sometimes drop to barely a whisper.

On a Sunday, when Jackson, Lily and Skinner had gone to the cafeteria for lunch, she grabbed Mulder’s hand and smiled sadly. “Do you know what I was thinking?”

Mulder leaned in and kissed her knuckles. “What, love?”

“That I lost my afterglow.”

Mulder’s eyes filled with tears and he struggled to talk. “You’ve never lost your glow, Scully. And you will never lose your glow. You’re a walking afterglow.”

“I’m sorry, Mulder.” Scully started to cry silently. He moved towards the bed and sat on the mattress, holding her, letting her cry all the tears she had left. “I’m sorry to be leaving you.”

“Scully, it’s okay. It’s okay. Don’t worry about me or Jackson or Lily. We’ll be okay. I promise.” He cried as well, his tears falling on her beanie.

“I love you, Mulder. So, so, much.” Scully said as she looked deep into his eyes, deep into his soul.

“I love you too, Scully. More than you’ll ever know.”

Xxxxx

When Scully fell in love with Mulder, she swore she would love him until her last breath. Twenty-eight years after, she swore the same thing as they were getting married. “I, Dana Katherine Scully, swear to love you, Fox William Mulder, until my last breath.”

And that she did.

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr: blossom-ofsnow


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